Backing up his win over Carlos Alcaraz? No problem for Jack Draper. Draper won his first Masters 1000 title at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday by downing Holger Rune 6-2, 6-2 in just over an hour.

Draper and Rune were the first non Top 10 players to compete in a Masters final since 2021 in Indian Wells. Guess who won the men’s event that year? Draper’s fellow British lefty, Cam Norrie. Norrie made the Top 10 in the rankings a year later, with Draper getting there sooner, on Monday. The 23-year-old rises from No. 14 to seventh.

Indian Wells truly has been a Tennis Paradise for Draper.

“It’s incredible,” Draper said post match in a televised interview. “I wasn’t expecting this. I’ve put in a lot of work over time. I’m just so grateful and so happy to be out here to be able to play, my body feeling healthy, to feel great in the mind. Just all the work I’ve done over the last few years, it feels like it’s coming together on the big stage and I can’t put that into words.”

He flew out of the gates against Alcaraz — the two-time defending champion — claiming the first set in a lightning quick 23 minutes. Alcaraz said afterwards it was probably one of the worst sets of tennis he’d ever played, although Draper contributed. The four-time Grand Slam champ also said he was
wary of Draper’s game and it led to nerves prior to the semifinal.

The healthy respect Draper has among his peers is set to grow further after he bettered the 21-year-old Rune, especially since his fitness concerns seem to be waning.

“I felt like I came out, I approached the (match) well,” said Draper. “Yesterday, I had a few ups and downs during the match. A bit low energy against Carlos and I kind of learned from that today. I knew Holger was going to come out and play some really good tennis. So I needed to be aggressive and play to win from the first ball and I did an amazing job of that.
“I didn’t allow him to play. I felt like I dictated the match really well.”

Draper got off to another fast start, breaking immediately as he moved the Dane all around the court. Rune’s anticipation habitually allows him to steal points but Draper had him guessing when he held for 2-0, wrong footing his foe with a forehand.

He slammed down serves to hold for 4-0 and Rune had to deliver a 94 mph forehand to avoid trailing 5-0. That missed opportunity didn’t shake Draper — he held in a Roger Federer-esque one minute for 5-1. How good was Draper in the opener? He thumped seven aces, hit 12 winners overall and only made seven un- forced errors.

Rune reached into his bag of tricks against two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev on Saturday, slicing on his backhand with regularity. He didn’t do much of it against Draper, instead attempting to mostly pound away on forehands, more so in the first set.

The World No. 13 wasn’t getting the results he hoped for in the wind and sunshine. Rune took a toilet break at the end of the first set. But the first point of the second saw him hit a double fault. Draper broke again when Rune opted to let a return on a serve and volley go, thinking it would stray long. It didn’t.

Having already hit, arguably, the shot of the tournament against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round, Rune produced another spectacular shot in the fourth game of the second — a cross-court forehand winner from well outside the doubles alley. He finally worked his way into a Draper service game (deuce), but didn’t see a break point. He never did.

When they faced off last year in Cincinnati, Draper only served at 49 percent and lost in straight sets. Three wild Rune forehands helped Draper break again for 5-2 — and realistically the final was done. Officially, it ended when Rune’s backhand pass went wide.

Moments later, Draper knelt on the court and seemed to take the moment in.

Draper finished with 10 aces and only lost two points behind his first serve. Rune lost for the first time in his last 10 matches against a lefty.

The competitor that he is, he might not immediately find positives given how his fourth Masters final ended.

“It’s been a great two weeks here,” said Rune during the trophy ceremony. “It never feels nice not to be able to step over the final line but that’s life sometimes.” Tears then came when Rune spoke of his family. “They mean everything to me,” he added.

But Rune made his first final overall in 14 months. Yet on the men’s side, the tournament belonged to Draper.

“The players are so well looked after here. We get to experience an amazing crowd. Amazing hospitality. I didn’t get a chance to experience it much last year but this is one of my favorite tournaments now,” Draper said with a smile, 12 months after exiting in the first round.